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The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) has joined hands with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), and the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) to organize the “Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Regional Dialogue: South East Asia,”the first of its kind in Asia, on May 18 in Bangkok.
The event brings together regional policy makers and capital market executives from 13 countries to enhance sustainable development in South East Asian capital markets. Thai Finance Minister Sommai Phasee, together with UNCTAD Secretary General Mukhisa Kituyi and UNEP Regional Director Kaveh Zahedi open the event..
SET President Kesara Manchusree said the event would be another step forward after SET made progress in July, 2014 becoming the first exchange in ASEAN to join the UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative, reinforcing SET’s upcoming fifth decade of commitment to promote sustainable development mechanism in the capital market and society. The SSE Regional Dialogue will welcome more than 150 participants from 13 countries covering policy makers, leaders, high-level executives from South East Asia’s stock exchanges and regulators, listed companies from the UN Global Compact network and institutional investors from the PRI network.
“This first SSE Regional Dialogue in ASEAN would be a platform for executives in ASEAN and global capital markets to exchange views on driving sustainable development, followed by a practical workshop to assist investors, listed companies and other capital market stakeholders in conducting Sustainable Development Reports (SD Report) and risk management,” added Kesara.
"South East Asia has been a success story of investment lead development over the past two decades," said James Zhan, Director of UNCTAD's Investment and Enterprise Division. "But going forward, more will need to be done to ensure that investment translates into sustainable development outcomes. The SSE Regional Dialogue for South East Asia plays an important role in this by bringing together investment leaders to help ensure that capital markets promote sustainable business practices."
"This year marks the finalization of the UN Sustainable Development Goals - a global roadmap that will shape development for the next two decades. The Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative provides a unique opportunity for South East Asian stock exchanges, investors and regulators to define their role in delivering on these ambitious goals and guide investments that will usher in tomorrow's inclusive green economies,” said Kaveh Zahedi, regional director and representative for Asia and the Pacific of UNEP.
